Refrigerated meat display device



Nov. 11, `1952 F. J. PETRINI 2,617,266

REERIGERATED MEAT DISPLAY DEVICE Filed Nov. 3, 1949 Fatented Nov. 11, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2 Claims.

The present invention relates to improvements in refrigerated meat display devices and the principal object of the invention is to provide a device of the character described which combines attractiveness of display with a maximum visibility for the customer and ease of access for the attendant.

In devices of this character it has been customary to provide a case for accommodating the meat and to provide a roof structure above the case having a solid insulated top for holding the refrigeration coils, front display windows usually made of two or three panes and a number of rear door openings with comparatively small doors giving access to the inside of the case. In this structure the two or three panes in front tend to distort the products on display and the continuous opening and closing of the small doors in the rear work a hardship on the butcher serving the meat.

In the present invention it is proposed to eliminate all of .these objectional features and to provide a roof structure having a single plate glass top, a single plate glass front window and providing a wide opening in the rear, in the absence of any doors or other closures.

Thus the customer has an unobstructed and unrestricted view of the entire case through the top and the front windows, while the attending butcher has free access to the contents of the case through the wide opening in the rear of the roof structure.

In order to carry out these ideas it was necessary to develop a new type of refrigeration system different from that used in display cases heretofore.

It is contemplated in this new system to mount the evaporator of the refrigeration system in a pocket formed in the rear wall of the case and to provide guide means causing air cooled by the evaporator to drop toward the bottom of the case, to follow the bottom and to rise through the entire area of the case.

It is further proposed to mount a plate assen bly for holding the meat in the upper portion of the case, slightly below the upper edge thereof, so as to cause the cool air to slowly rise through the plate assembly and to keep the meat at the proper temperature.

It is further contemplated in the present invention to arrange the evaporator in such a manner that the downward draft entrains air from the atmosphere outside the case so as to provide a desired degree of humidity in the circulating air.

It is further proposed to provide a secondary evaporator in the form of a cold plate underneath the far portion of the plate assembly for spreading the circulating air, this cold plate being made to retain its temperature during oicycle periods and to serve as a heat retarding factor.

Further objects and advantages of my invention will appear as the specification proceeds, and the novel features of my invention will be fully defined in the claims attached hereto.

The preferred form of my invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 shows a vertical cross-section through my display device, taken along line I-I of Figure 2, and

Figure 2, a horizontal section taken along line 2 2 of Figure 1.

While I have shown only the preferred form of my invention, I wish to have it understood that various changes and modifications may be made within the scope of the claims attached hereto without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Referring to the drawing in detail, my display device comprises in its principal features a case I supported on a suitable base 2 and having a roof structure shown at 3. The case I is insulated all around and has a rear wall 4, a front Wall 5 and a bottom wall 6. Suitable end walls are provided as at l.

The rear wall Il is somewhat higher than the front wall 5, and has, at its upper end, an overhang 8 extending into the case and forming a pocket 9 therein. An evaporator I D of conventional character is supported in this pocket in parallel relation to the wall Il.

A baffle I I separates the pocket from themain body portion of the case and may be suitably supported by means of clips I2. The upper edge of the baiile stops shor-t of the inner edge of the overhang 8 so as to leave a passage between the baffle and the overhang through which air may enter from the outside 0f the case. The bottom edge of the baffle stops short of the bottom of the case so as to leave a bottom passage between the pocket and the main body portion of the case.

The lower corner sections of the case are preferably lled in or rounded as at I3 to provide for a smoother flow of air past the corners, and the upper surface of the bottom has a slight downward slant toward the center as shown at I4 to provide a slide way for the air.

A meat supporting plate assembly, generally indicated at I5, is mounted in the upper portion of the case, slightly below the upper edge thereof. I provide for this purpose a longitudinal angle I6 extending lengthwise through the case intermediate the width thereof and a number of transverse supporting bars I'I. In my present arrangement I use two perforated shelves I8 suitably supported between the baille I I and the angle I6, and a number of meat plates I9 supported between the angle IB and the front wall l5.

A so-called cold plate 2U is mounted lengthwise underneath the meat plates I9, in spaced relation thereto and is supported on suitable brackets 2|. This cold plate is of standard manufacture and contains a eutectic solution which has a tendency to give more uniform temperatures throughout the case. It is connected into the general refrigeration circuit, and refrigeration is accomplished by expanding first into the main evaporator l and then into the cold plate in a series arrangement. On the oil-cycle of the condensing unit the main evaporator coil immediately rises in temperature, but the cold plate, because of its holdover solution, does not allow the temperature to rise rapidly. Thus the cold plate has a tempering or retarding efect. When the condensing unit starts again because of the built-up pressure in the evaporators, the solution in the plate is still colder than the main evaporator, and the air temperature in the case, therefore, does not rise as high as it would without the use of the cold plate.

The cold plate further serves as a means for spreading the cold air rising from the bottom of the case.

The roof structure comprises in its principal features a front glass plate 22 rising from the front wall on a rearward incline, and a top plate 23 also made of plate glass, the rear edge of the top plate being suitably supported by braces 24. It will be noted that the rear edge of the top plate extends rearwardly only to a point approximately midway over the case and at a considerable elevation with respect thereto so as to leave a wide opening between the rear edge of the top and the rear wall of the case.

The operation of the device is as follows: Air chilled by the evaporator Il! in the pocket 9 descends in the pocket and flows along the bottom of the case and slowly rises through the entire area of the case, to cool the cuts of meat disposed on the perforated shelves I8 and the meat plates I9, the shelves and the plates, when in place, forming a substantially continuous meat supporting plate assembly aiding in the uniform distribution of the rising air.

Air from the outside of the case is sucked into the pocket around the overhang 3 and is entrained in the general circulation so as to provide a desired amount of humidity. The air rising through and around the plate assembly flows outward along the roof structure and dissipates into the atmosphere through the upper portion of the rear opening.

It will be noted that this refrigeration system does not depend upon the roof structure for accommodating any refrigeration element, such as evaporator coils, and that the front portion therefore may be made of simple plate glass, insuring full visibility of the display of meat to the customer. The arrangement of the meat supporting plates and shelves in a substantially continuous assembly slightly below the upper edges of the case allows of an attractive display of the meat cuts, and finally, the open rear of the roof structure gives easy access to the meat for the attendant butcher who may remove any meat cut selected by the customer with the same ease as if the meat display were lying before him on an open table top.

I claim:

1. In a refrigerated meat display device, a case having insulated front rear and bottom walls, the rear wall being slightly higher than the front wall and having a horizontal overhang with a free inner edge to form a vertical pocket underneath the overhang, a xed vertical baille separating the pocket from the case body and having A.an upper edge disposed close to the inner edge of the overhang but slightly spaced therefrom ,inwardly and downwardly so as to leave a narrow passage through which outside air may spill over the edge of the overhang into the pocket, the lower edge of the bafe being spaced from the bottom of the case, an evaporator forming part of a refrigeration circuit mounted in the pocket, and a substantially continuous meat supporting plate assembly disposed in the upper portion of the case and being supported in part by the upper edge of the baiie and in part by the upper edge ,of the front wall and lying substantially in a plane dened by the overhang and the top of the front wall, whereby cold air descending in the pocket is made to spread along the bottom of the case and to rise toward the plate assembly through the entire area thereof. I

2. In a refrigerated meat display device, a case having insulated front, rear and bottom walls, the rear wall being slightly higher than the front wall and having a horizontal overhang with a free inner edge to form a vertical pocket underneath the overhang, a fixed vertical baffle separating the pocket from the case body and having an upper edge disposed close to the inner edge of the overhang but slightly spaced therefrom inwardly and downwardly so as to leave a narrow passage through which outside air may spill over the edge of the overhang into the pocket, the lower edge of the baille being spaced from the bottom of the case, an evaporator forming part of a refrigeration circuit mounted in the pocket, and a substantially continuous meat supporting plate assembly disposed in the upper portion of the case and being supported in part by the upper edge of the baffle and in part by the upper edge of the front wall and lying substantially in a plane defined by the overhang and the top of the front wall, whereby cold air descending in the pocket is made to spread along the bottom of the case and to rise toward the plate assembly through the entire area thereof, the case being a transparent plate rising from the front wall at a rearward incline and a horizontal transparent plate projecting rearwardly from the top edge of the former plate and terminating at an elevation above the case and substantially midway between the front wall and the inner edge of the overhang so as to leave an open space between the rear edge of the top plate and the overhang, the said space being permanently unobstructed to allow outside air access to the narrow passage and to allow of easy access to the plate assembly from the rear of the case.

FRANK J. PE-TRINI.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 985,620 Monette Feb. 28, 1911 1,840,943 Gloekler Jan. 12, 1932 1,845,888 Rutishauser Feb. 16, 1932 2,271,802 Nordskog Feb. 3, 1942 2,430,329 Davis Nov. 4, 1947 

